Jack Roush is known as one of the most eloquent speakers among NASCAR team owners.
He has a way to turn a phrase or drop a colorful adjective into what can be the most mundane interview.
And Roush – co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing – has been doing that for 50 years under the blue oval banner.
Thanks to the good folks at Ford Racing, here’s some of Jack’s best answers – or as Ford put it, “memorable quotes.”
So for all of you RFR fans, you asked for Jack, you’ve got Jack’s best, right here, right now:
* AFTER GREG BIFFLE WON AT MICHIGAN IN 2004, JACK WAS ASKED HOW HARD IT WAS TO GET FIVE CARS RUNNING WELL.
“I liken myself to the nursery rhyme about the old lady who lives in a shoe, she had so many children she didn’t know what to do. It’s really tough for me to bear the experience that I have, which has been considerable coming up on 40 years of being involved in professional racing. To bring that history to bear and at the same time not get in the way of the guys as they do what is current and what is timely going forward, I try to bring forward a democratic process that brings out the best that everybody has and challenges the things that are not sound that would get them in trouble.”
* THE CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP DEBUTED IN 2004 WHEN NEXTEL WAS OFFICIALLY THE SERIES SPONSOR. JACK PROVIDED HIS THOUGHTS ON THE NEW FORMAT AFTER GREG BIFFLE WON AT MICHIGAN IN 2004.
“This chase for the Nextel Cup points thing for the last 10 races is breaking new ground for all of us. I’m a racing dog. If somebody wants to put together a race and I’ve got a tricycle or a bicycle or an airplane or a locomotive that fits the rules for it, I want to go race it and see how we can do. So to race for 11th, to race for first, those are all races that are worthwhile. The money that goes with that is a necessary component to what we do. It’s like air. Money goes through these things. We spend all that we can get on whatever we think is most important to us at the time.”
* ONE OF THE PERKS TO WINNING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IS YOU GET A COWBOY HAT. JACK STARTED LAUGHING WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABOUT HOW HIS FIT AFTER GREG BIFFLE WON THERE IN 2005.
“My head is pretty large sometimes, but I’m gonna see if I can trade mine down a little bit. Mine was a little large for me.”
* NASCAR IMPLEMENTED A NEW IMPOUND RULE FOR 2005. JACK WAS ASKED WHY HIS TEAMS HAD BEEN ABLE TO ADAPT SO WELL TO IT AFTER GREG BIFFLE WON AT MICHIGAN IN JUNE.
“I’m surrounded by really, really smart people with one flaw – they hang around with me and I don’t know why they do that. When they opened up Texas the first time, when we went to Las Vegas the first time – I don’t remember Loudon or Fontana – but most of these new race tracks – when we have a tire change or spoiler change – the guys that I’m blessed with having in my company that I’m accompanied by, they adapt to it faster than their peers. They historically have done that.
* KURT BUSCH SIGNED TO DRIVE FOR ROGER PENSKE IN 2007 WITH A FULL SEASON STILL REMAINING ON HIS ROUSH FENWAY CONTRACT. AFTER BUSCH WON AT RICHMOND IN SEPTEMBER OF 2005, JACK WAS ASKED IF HE WAS CERTAIN THEY WOULD BE TOGETHER IN 2006.
“To answer your question, I’m as certain as I can be without being certain.”
* THE CREW CHIEF POSITION UNDERWENT A CHANGE IN THE EARLY 2000’s WITH ENGINEERS BECOMING THE POPULAR CHOICE TO SIT ON THE PIT BOX. AFTER CARL EDWARDS WON AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY TO SWEEP BOTH CUP EVENTS THAT YEAR, JACK WAS ASKED ABOUT BOB OSBORNE’S IMPACT ON THE TEAM.
“For a crew chief to be able to lead a team and lead a driver, you can’t get lost in mania, you can’t get lost in conjecture, you can’t get lost in rumor. You’ve got to take things apart and decide what you know to be true and what confuses you and deal with things analytically that are confusing.”
* ENGINEERING CONTINUED TO TAKE ON A MORE PROMINENT ROLE IN NASCAR THROUGH THE EARLY 2000’S AND AFTER MATT KENSETH WON AT HOMESTEAD IN 2007 HE OFFERED HIS OPINION ON HOW IT WAS CHANGING THE SPORT.
“There’s a revolution occurring. Time was when I started 20 years ago at this, engineering was something that was kept on the back burner and if you absolutely got cornered and couldn’t figure out what to do you would ask the engineer what he thought and the crew chief would make a decision to either laugh or to try it. But today this thing has gotten so complex and there are so many great engineers doing so much predicative and analysis work that you have to have that going for you.”
* THE LAST TIME ROUSH FENWAY RACING FINISHED 1-2-3 IN A NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE WAS AT DOVER IN THE FALL OF 2008. AFTER GREG BIFFLE CAME AWAY VICTORIOUS WITH MATT KENSETH SECOND AND CARL EDWARDS THIRD, JACK WAS ASKED HOW MANY HEART-STOPPING MOMENTS HE HAD OVER THE LAST 25 LAPS.
“This is like a big Bristol. I know the first time I went to Bristol, and today, I hyperventilated. I really need to have a paper bag to put on my head so I can take in some CO2 and not take in all this oxygen that was making me crazy. It’s just hard not to lose your mind when you’ve got as many opportunities as there are with the multiple cars to be involved in something that’s just going to break your heart, just holding your breath, breathing too fast, both at the same time, as you watch it unfold.”
* JACK WON HIS FIRST DAYTONA 500 WITH MATT KENSETH IN 2009 WHEN THE RACE WAS CUT SHORT DUE TO RAIN. AFTERWARDS, JACK WAS ASKED WHAT HE WAS THINKING WHEN NASCAR MADE THE DECISION TO MAKE THE RACE OFFICIAL.
“We’ve been here for more than 20 years trying to do this thing, and I got so conditioned for being frustrated through it that I was almost not believing that it happened. I’ll be black and blue for the next few days just from pinching myself to make sure that I’m not dreaming.”
* TALLADEGA TURNED INTO A FUEL MILEAGE RACE WITH A GREEN-WHITE-CHECKER FINISH IN 2009 AND MANY CARS WERE ON THE EDGE ON WHETHER THEY COULD MAKE IT. AFTER JAMIE MCMURRAY CAME AWAY WITH THE WIN, JACK WAS ASKED WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR HIM ON THE PIT BOX.
“I was up there to try and console Donnie (Wingo) and finally the cars started running out of gas one after another and we called off the one-to-go twice and I couldn’t stand it. I was gonna throw-up someplace, so I had to go find myself some privacy.”
* FORD CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND HAS HISTORICALLY CLOSED THE NASCAR SEASON SINCE THE EARLY 2000’S. WHEN CARL EDWARDS WON THE FINAL RACE IN 2010 JACK TOLD THE MEDIA HOW HE FELT.
“As far as coming to Ford Championship Weekend and not winning in a Ford with all the support that we’ve had for all the years, I would be embarrassed to go home and not have made a really good showing, so I can sleep better tonight than I did last night based on the way it worked out today.”
Source: Ford Racing.
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